The Warriors Tournament
by Sunshine Muncher
Summary: The Warriors world merges with the world of Unreal Tournament when Thunderclan and Shadowclan fight in a brutal battle. Jayfeather and Lionblaze must try to save the clans, but they must not be caught in the tide of violence to survive. can they bring the clans back to normal or will there be forever stuck in Unreal Tournament (3)? The fate of the clans is in thier paws.
1. Chapter 1

**The Warriors Tournament**

**When Shadowclan provokes an unnecessary battle with Thunderclan, things that are not meant to happen, happen. And the real world merges with the world of video games will Lionblaze and Jayfeather be able to change the destiny of the clans? Or will they be forever stuck half in the world of Unreal Tournament? It includes the vehicles and weapons from Unreal Tournament 3.**

**T for violence and strong language**

**Thunderclan-**

**Leader-**Firestar- is always high on drugs and likes explosives

**Deputy-**Brambleclaw- has a bad temper

**Medicine cat-** Jayfeather- is an emo

Apprentice-Nightpaw

**Warriors-**

Graystripe- has a counselor and is insane

Cloudtail-loves swearing

Thornclaw-likes violence

Brightheart

Lionblaze- LOVES violence

Cinderheart

Hollyleaf- is way too obsessed with the warrior code

Leafpool- is generally very useless

Squirrelflight

Dustpelt- goes crazy when he gets to drive a Dark Walker

Sandstorm-broke up with Firestar

Berrynose-is annoying

Ashfur- is always trying to kill Squirrelflight, and enjoy the Redeemer too much

Poppyfrost- goes overkill using a Nemesis

Mousewhisker

Whitewing

Ivypool-is extremely jealous of Dovewing still and specializes in sniper rifles

Dovewing

Bumblestripe

Blossomfall

Foxleap-loves to use flak cannons

Icecloud- tries too hard

Hazeltail

Spiderleg- over "pancakes" when using the Manta

**Apprentices-**

Nightpaw

Beechpaw

Redpaw- has a terrible blood lust

Mintpaw-acts extremely annoying

Larchpaw-Loves making a mess with Bio rifles

**Elders-**

Longtail

Mousefur

Purdy

**Chapter 1-**

Lionblaze sleepily basked in a sunlight clearing, the afternoon Greenleaf sun piercing through the leafy tree tops. Lionblaze stretched yawning in comfort as his powerful muscles flexed beneath his golden pelt.

This was his forest and no other clan owned it. Lionblaze got up and shook his pelt out before scenting for any prey that was nearby. He had to remind himself he was hunting for his clan, not laying around all day, as nice as it was. Lionblaze picked up a sudden scent trail, it was a rabbit. Rabbits were rarely, in fact almost never found so close in the territory to the Thunderclan camp. Strangely enough Lionblaze thought he caught a whiff of pines mixed with the scent of moor on the rabbit. Lionblaze followed the trail which was getting closer and closer to the camp until he stepped into the indentation of a cat's paw print. Fresh and smelling of Shadowclan!

Lionblaze felt his neck fur rise, foolish Shadowclan warriors! They were about to find out just how sorry they were! Lionblaze ran as fast as he could keeping low and making no sound. He began to make out hushed voices eventually and came across a clearing where he noticed a large patrol hidden amongst the bushes. Lionblaze had to keep himself from yowling out in anger as an apprentice and probably his mentor stalked the unsuspecting rabbit though Lionblaze growled deep in his throat as the Mentor urged her apprentice on. Lionblaze waited though, since he didn't want to risk losing the rabbit either. It was too good to risk since the rabbit was so big it would be very hard even for him to carry.

Lionblaze stiffened as the apprentice leaped and caught the rabbit struggling for a moment before killing it with a precise nip at the back of its neck. Lionblaze was now rigid with anger as the rest of the patrol leapt out of the bushes and congratulated the arrogant apprentice. "Good job Pinepaw!" Lionblaze recognized Dawnpelt, and Rowanclaw coming up to meet the apprentice. Lionblaze then took the moment to stand up and rumble "Pinepaw huh? Well good job." The Shadowclan cats froze in surprise as Lionblaze stepped out of his hiding place and met them face to face, Rowanclaw the deputy stepped forward clearly nervous, but he had his head raised arrogantly. Lionblaze fought the urge to claw the deputy's face off. "So, Shadowclan hunting in the heart of my territory eh? What have you to say for yourself?" Lionblaze snarled. Rowanclaw snorted and his whiskers twitched in amusement, "I don't have to justify myself to you, in fact you should take us to Firestar." Lionblaze stared at the deputy condescendingly, "So Shadowclan is just a clan full of a bunch of arrogant dishonorable thieves, is what you're saying?"

With satisfaction, Lionblaze saw Rowanclaw stiffen angrily, he hissed and turned back to his bristling warriors, "come on this cat can't do anything to stop us and Thunderclan isn't going to do anything anyways." Without a word the patrol turned around haughtily dragging the dead rabbit.

Lionblaze snarled without any forethought and jumped onto Rowanclaw's back taking him by surprise. This wasn't going to happen again! Claws unsheathed Lionblaze brought him to the ground with no effort and sunk them deep into the cats belly making the deputy yowl in pain. Lionblaze backed off, letting Rowanclaw struggled up before knocking him down again with a swipe of his paw. Lionblaze sprang and landed precisely and ripped his claws into The Shadowclan deputy's belly over and over until he felt claws grab his tail and pull him away, Lionblaze whipped around knocking Dawnpelt away who was shrieking, "You fucking brute! Get off my father!" Lionblaze looked down and noticed with horror the blood spilling onto the ground up to his paws. Lionblaze stared at himself noticing his pelt stained with blood all the way up his fore legs and chest.

The rest of the patrol was staring in horror at Lionblaze's blood lust and at their deputy who was thrashing on the ground slipping in his own blood. Wailing, a warrior Ivytail raced up and gently grabbed their deputy and carried him away. Only Dawnpelt and Pinepaw stayed fear flashing in their gazes. Lionblaze raised his head, trying to forget the searing guilt, he growled, "You would have done well to listen to our threats. We cannot tolerate you on our territory or it won't just be your father." The last barb was aimed at Dawnpelt, who turned around hissing, "take your Goddamn rabbit then!" Pinepaw dropped it and the two cats raced off after their clanmates.

Lionblaze stood there not sure what to do. Just then caterwauling sounded in the bushes and Hollyleaf, Dovewing, and Cinderheart burst out of the undergrowth headed by Thornclaw. "Lionblaze!" Thornclaw gasped, "Are you okay?" Lionblaze nodded beginning to get over the shock of what he had done. "We heard fighting and smelled Shadowclan, but it seems you've fought them off." Lionblaze growled anger beginning to seep back into his pelt, "They were hunting again, for the fifth time on our territory, this time Rowanclaw was there at the head of them teaching their apprentices how to hunt."

Cinderheart gasped, and Hollyleaf looked horrified, "I-I thought you were breaking the warrior code but, Shadowclan were! They need to be punished for breaking the-" Lionblaze cut her off annoyance for his sister making him snap, "No one obviously cares about the fucking warrior code anymore!" Hollyleaf inhaled sharply, "but we need it!" Lionblaze hissed, "Really! No one cares, so shut the hell up!"

Hollyleaf looked as though she was about to protest but the rest of the patrol was glaring at her so she closed her mouth and stepped back. "Anyways," Thornclaw growled, "we need to report this to Firstar right away. Shadowclan won't get away with this again!" The patrol set off towards camp with Lionblaze following at the back. Cinderheart fell in behind him, concern showing in her blue eyes, "are you sure you're okay?" Lionblaze looked at her steadily understanding her concern, "of course."

Cinderheart gazed at him not convinced, "But, what about the blood?" Lionblaze looked down at himself while running, "Don't worry it's not mine." He reassured her. Cinderheart gazed at him a flash of anger and love showing in her eyes, she shuddered then pulled ahead, leaving Lionblaze at the back alone. Lionblaze felt his chest ache with loneliness; he wanted to wail his sorrow, why couldn't Cinderheart accept who he was? It wasn't his fault that he was so powerful, and she knew it.

"Firestar!" Thornclaw yowled as the patrol burst through the entrance. Firestar, Lionblaze noticed, was prancing around camp, screaming about how great the day was, he had white powder smeared all over his muzzle and was singing parts of "Great Day" by the Lonely Island. Lionblaze felt frustration and impatience for his leader tear at his chest. Since Firestar had found out about which cats were part of the prophecy he had started to do some drugs, at first he was stealing poppy seeds from Jayfeather's den, then Firestar had discovered that he could get high on cat mint so he began to steal from the other clans until he started to mysteriously acquire cocaine.

Lionblaze snorted disdainfully Firestar could rot his brain for all he cared; the clan just really needed a leader at the moment.

Firestar paid no heed to Thornclaw and pranced up to the patrol yelling at the top of his lungs, "Wonderful day makes me feel so happy that my face is numb! My heart is racing along barumpa pum pum! Blah blah, I forget the rest, blah blah..." Thornclaw growled impatiently, and grabbed a branch up of the ground and hit Firestar across the face with it. "Hey, Firestar!" Firestar looked up his green eyes blood shot, "But it's such a beautiful day! The birds are chirping and the sun is shining bright!" The clan had already gathered around and was watching the patrol anxiously. Cloudtail spoke up from the crowd cutting Firestar off, "Oh my god! We can hear the goddamn birds already; quit being such a stupid dipshit and pay attention already!" Sandstorm Firestar's former mate, (for obvious reasons), now stalked up to him and hissed in his face, "If you don't quit being such a fucking bastard I'll find your supply of cocaine and burn it. ALL of it!" Firestar shrieked and jumped up and down terrified. "No, No, NO!" Lionblaze growled, there was no time for this nonsense! "He stalked up to Firestar and calmly as he could and growled, "Get the Fuck out of here." Firestar's face dramatically grew crestfallen,

"What?"

"Now."

"Lionblaze!"

Firestar Whipped around and picked up a rose that just appeared there and ran off to his den awfully singing, "WHY WOULD THEY DISS ME! I THOUGHT THEY WERE MY HOMMIES!" And stuck his nose into the rose and snorted before disappearing into his den. The clearing was silent for a moment until Brambleclaw the deputy shouldered his way into the crowd. He addressed Thornclaw seriously, "What happened then?" Lionblaze stepped in before Thornclaw could speak receiving a glare in return from the senior warrior, "I was out hunting when I found a Shadowclan scent trail. So I followed it until I found an entire patrol hunting again on our territory." Their where gasps of anger coming from every cat and there were yowls of "Fox-hearted thieves!" and "fucking Cowards!" Bramble waved his tail for silence and the clan gradually fell silent.

Lionblaze continued growing angry again, "The patrol was led by Rowanclaw, and they killed the rabbit right on our territory." The clan stiffened in outrage, Brightheart yowled, "we should attack Shadowclan and see how they like it if we take prey right from their camp!"

"And that's not all." A voice spoke, making every cat turn around. It was Jayfeather, "I had a sign, they are going to invade the territory and steal our herbs." Lionblaze's eyes widened, if that happened Jayfeather would not cope well, because every cat knew that Jayfeather had more than catmint growing there. Jayfeather also grew marijuana in his garden though no cat dared to ask for any or take it, especially since Darkpaw did. Darkpaw had disappeared since then, and no cat wanted to take the chance of probably dying over weed. So Jayfeather was very protective of his "herb" garden.

The clan gasped shocked and there were yowls of agreement with Brightheart's statement. Brambleclaw was looking impatient when the protests didn't die down, so he jumped on top of the Highledge and caterwauled, "WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP?!" The clan silenced and turned to the Highledge. "Okay, now you bastards," Brambleclaw growled bad temperedly, "We will raid Shadowclan's camp before dawn tomorrow and make them pay for hunting on our territory." Thunderclan cheered in excitement including Lionblaze. "Thornclaw, Berrynose, Squirrelflight, Dovewing, Poppyfrost, Lionblaze, Mintpaw, and Larchpaw will go on the first patrol to attack." Lionblaze felt excitement at the prospect of joining the battle. "And on the second patrol will be led by me. I'll take Ivypool, Leafpool, Dustpelt, Cinderheart, Sandstorm, Whitewing, Bumblestripe, Blossomfall, Icecloud Mousewhisker, and Beechpaw. Lionblaze you lead the first patrol." Lionblaze felt pride swell in his chest at being given the chance to lead a patrol.

Thunderclan caterwauled in excitement, cheers reaching into the sky as Brambleclaw leaped down from the Highledge. Lionblaze looked around and noticed Jayfeather approaching him through the press of cats. "Lionblaze! Why is your pelt so full of blood?" Lionblaze replied, "I confronted the patrol and attacked Rowanclaw when he started to walk away." Jayfeather looked relieved, "It's not your blood then." Lionblaze shook his head. Jayfeather nodded and walked away to his den leaving Lionblaze standing in the clearing alone with a few straggling cats.

Lionblaze then noticed that evening was coming fast already so he walked over to the fresh kill pile and grabbed a magpie off the top and walked over to a quieter place in the hollow with a miserable glance at Cinderheart who paid no attention to Lionblaze though he was sure that she noticed him. He settled down and before eating cleaning Rowanclaw's blood off his legs and chest. Lionblaze felt his fur prickle in excitement for another battle. Shadowclan would wish they'd never been born! But deep inside, Lionblaze had a bad feeling that something would go wrong, and change the destiny of the clans forever. And not just the living, but also the dead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2-**

Jayfeather tossed and turned in his sleep, he dreamed he was standing on the border of Shadowclan's and Thunderclan's territory. The sounds of screeching battling cats drifted into the air but there was not a single cat around. A dark fog drifted from Thunderclan's territory and slid past Jayfeather's paws. He tried to move from it but his paws were rooted to the ground. A voice whispered in his ears urgent but so quiet he couldn't make it out.

"What?" Jayfeather snapped irritably. But the voice kept whispering urgently and Jayfeather felt irritation and fear swelling beneath his pelt. The fog began to roll in sickly from both sides of the forest engulfing Jayfeather in a sickly dark purple wall. Suddenly it swirled and Jayfeather thought he saw the image of Yellowfang, the long dead Thunderclan medicine cat, her eyes filled with dismay.

Then the fog swirled again and Yellowfang's image was swept away and replaced with Rock. Jayfeather yowled out, "What are you trying to tell me?" But Rock never answered, he only shook his head defeat showing in his eyes. Jayfeather felt a searing sense of dismay choke him, as Rock faded and the fog seemed to rear and turn into a giant wave that swept over the yowling Jayfeather.

Jayfeather woke up gasping as darkness slammed over his eyes. Something wasn't right; the darkness wasn't as it should be, like it was normal darkness, not the darkness that accompanied his blind eyes. He raced out of the medicine cats den and looked around.

Jayfeather could see the stars in Silverpelt and when he looked down the hollow was engulfed in darkness from the moon being covered by thick clouds tinted slightly purple. Some of his clanmates were already up and walking around preparing for the battle, which wasn't weird, but what was weird was the fact that they had cat sized Twoleg belts strapped around their waists and cat sized guns on the belts. Lionblaze who was already up saw Jayfeather and trotted over to him, eyes wide. His brother's fur had turned from golden to camo and he had an Enforcer and a Rocket Launcher slung over his back. Jayfeather was shocked, "Lionblaze, why do you have Twoleg weapons on you?" Lionblaze looked at Jayfeather half confused, "I don't exactly know. Something happened and I just had them, so does every other cat!" "Great Starclan, what's going on?" Jayfeather breathed, and then it dawned on him, he could see. Lionblaze had noticed, "You can see!" He exclaimed, "Well no shit he can see!" It was Berrynose who walked up with a Shock Rifle and the same Enforcer over his back. "How would Jayfeather be our medicine cat then?" Lionblaze growled at the irritating cream colored- well camo colored warrior.

Berrynose backed away rolling his eyes, "well don't have a temper Lionblaze and trotted off to the freshkill pile obviously unaware that he had just randomly acquired Twoleg weapons. "This is really, really bad." Jayfeather said, feeling dismay course through him, Lionblaze looked half confused, "But why? Isn't it pretty awesome? I mean we are going to fight Shadowclan through Warfare."

Jayfeather growled, but half feeling that it was pretty awesome that he could actually see, "Lionblaze you stupid Idiot you know what this means?" Lionblaze was silent, "This isn't a dream, it's real and we shouldn't be stuck in a world like this!" Lionblaze sighed in agreement, "but what can we do?" Jayfeather shook his head unsure of what to do and said nothing else. He and Lionblaze were silent for a few moments until a voice called out on the Highledge.

It was Firestar, Firestar's eyes were glazed and more white powder was smeared on his face. Jayfeather stifled a hiss and watched Firestar wondering if he should knock his leader out. Firestar drew in a breath and yowled, "EVERY GODDAMN CAT GET THE HELL UP! IT'S SUCH A GREAT DAY!" Jayfeather winced as several cats emerged from the den bristling. Firestar was now dancing around on thee Highledge, "ITS SUCH A GREAT DAY THE BIRDS ARE CHIRPING TWEEDILY TWEET!" Growling Sandstorm stalked out of her den pulling her Shock rifle out of her belt, she walked right up to the highledge and held the weapon up at Firestar, "Good bye stupid coke head!"

Jayfeather's eyes widened, he pulled out a random tranquilizer and shot Sandstorm with it. She looked confused for a moment then her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed with a heavy thud on the ground. Jayfeather sighed relieved. Suddenly Ashfur came up shrieking excitedly, "YES make Squirrelflight pay! Kill Sandstorm, kill the damn cat!" Lionblaze growled, and stalked up to Ashfur who was smiling happily. "She's not dead; Jayfeather just shot her with a fucking tranquilizer!" Ashfur's tail drooped and he looked crestfallen. Firestar shrieked at Jayfeather, "OH MY GOD YOU KILLED MY WIFE!"

Firestar jumped off the Highledge and began moaning annoyingly. So Jayfeather raised his tranquillizer and shot Firestar. He fell with a thump on top of Sandstorm who was still knocked out. Sandstorm would never forgive him if he let Firestar go near her. By now most of the clan was up and were going about their business. Jayfeather and Lionblaze grabbed Sandstorm and Firestar and dragged the cats into their separate dens. As Jayfeather was coming out of the warriors den, he saw Hollyleaf and Cinderheart trotting towards him, "Oh my god Jayfeather I think you just broke the warrior co-."

Jayfeather pulled out his sniper rifle and shot Hollyleaf's head off. Cinderheart looked as though she was about to say something but she just shrugged and walked away. "Good riddance." Jayfeather growled, obviously Hollyleaf was annoying to everyone else, since no cat had seemed to notice.

The sun was beginning to rise, but the sickly purple cloud cover had only slightly lifted. Brambleclaw bounded up onto the Highledge, "Every cat listen up!" the quiet murmurs buzzing through the clan quickly stopped and every cat was quivering in excitement. "Lionblaze! You will take your patrol to cause a diversion so we can Infiltrate Shadowclan's core. Only one of you will take a Manta so you have some cover." Lionblaze nodded. "I will take my patrol and we will try to take the nodes." Once Lionblaze draws Shadowclan warriors away from their nodes, we will take the rest and then crush the power core!" Thunderclan yowled in agreement, Brambleclaw spoke over the noise, "And remember, the most important thing is to defend the nodes and stay in groups of at least two!"

Jayfeather felt dismay coursing through him, this definitely wasn't good.

Brambleclaw leapt off the Highledge and the clan assembled into their different positions guns at the ready and streamed out of the entrance in two organized groups.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3-**

Lionblaze led his patrol out of the camp entrance and let his own patrol group around him. Several cat sized Manta's had spawned outside of the camp, Lionblaze noticed with satisfaction a Goliath, three Scorpions, and a Cicada. Several places to pick up weapons had spawned hovering over plates and Thunderclan's Core was tucked away by the camp protected by high metal barriers that had never been there before. Lionblaze sighed, if only they could get a Darkwalker. But Shadowclan always had those vehicles and it was hard to hi-jack vehicles.

Lionblaze heard through his speaker Brambleclaw issuing orders to his patrol, He turned to his own cats, "Okay, Poppyfrost," she looked up, "I want you to take the Manta and give us cover. The rest of you stay close by but far enough away to keep Shadowclan busy. I want two snipers to take the trees and stay nearby." Lionblaze nodded at his eager warriors, "right, let's go." Brambleclaw was ready too, and the cats split up. He saw Mousewhisker streak away and grab the red orb.

Lionblaze beckoned to Cinderheart, who rather reluctantly joined him, and they streaked away towards the Shadowclan border. The rest of his patrol followed keeping low to the ground and spread out. Lionblaze noted with satisfaction that the Prime Node was already glowing red. _Good, we have the first node now._Lionblaze and Cinderheart were close to the border when he collided with Crowfrost, who was on his hoverboard. The Shadowclan cat went tumbling to the ground and lay winded for a moment, "Shit!" Lionblaze hissed. He had no time to pull out his Rocket launcher so he grabbed the black and white cat in his claws and flung him against a tree with no apparent effort.

Crowfrost collided yowling a moment before his neck snapped with a sickening crunch. At least that was one problem solved, although Crowfrost would probably take revenge on Lionblaze after he respawned. Lionblaze whipped around and continued on more cautiously this time. Just then a Rocket burst out of the undergrowth and Lionblaze reeled back, the rocket narrowly missing his head.

He fired his own in reply, and Oakfur was drawn out into the open Lionblaze leaped over the rocket Oakfur fired at him and fired three in a twisting spiral at the warrior who had no time to run before he exploded in a burst of flame and blood. Cinderheart was likewise dealing with another Shadowclan warrior the same way.

A voice crackled through his speaker, "Lionblaze, we need you to draw the enemies away from their Prime Node!" Lionblaze silently complied and raced away leaving Cinderheart to lead the patrol. Lionblaze took out his hoverboard, though he would be more exposed, and it carried him along. Suddenly a cat appeared out of the bushes past the border and leaped at Lionblaze knocking him off the hoverboard. "fuck you stupid cat!" he yowled, with his back claws he lashed out blindly and at the same time he grabbed his flak cannon and held it against the black she-cat, He pulled the trigger and she exploded on top of him. He shielded his face from the blood that pulsed against him.

Lionblaze pushed himself up shaking his fur out, that was when he heard a crashing in the undergrowth and a shadow fell over him, Looking up an enemy Darkwalker loomed over him. He backed up and flung himself behind a tree as a plasma laser hit the spot where he was a moment before. Lionblaze pulled out his Rocket Launcher and fired everything he could at it.

The rockets collided with the vehicle but barely dented it. Lionblaze made a quick report to his team, "Enemy Darkwalker mid-field."

Lionblaze caterwauled and emptied his guns at the Darkwalker, trying not to get hit by the beam or get too close beneath it. "Where the hell is my team?" He muttered to himself feeling irritated.

When all that was left was his enforcer, he took the chance to race into the bushes relying on luck to not get killed. A soon as he was clear he slowed down, unfortunately he heard the sound of a Scorpion racing towards him in the bushes. The blades collided with him and he felt a searing pain and blood spilling out of the wound before all went black.

Lionblaze respawned at the prime node shaking his fur out which was clean again he ran over to where the weapons were and chose to wield the Minigun that appeared in his inventory. Picking up extra ammo, he raced over to the vacant Manta and drove it through the bushes trying not to give it any damage.

As he raced along he saw a couple of Shadowclan cats working their way along to the center node. Lionblaze turned his Manta around, Hissing, "not on my watch!" and he saw the cats scatter in panic as Lionblaze fired at them, one dropped dead but the other managed to avoid his bullets. Lionblaze growled half grinning and sent the manta down and crushed the cat killing him instantly. Lionblaze tried not to smile as he heard the strangled yowl cut short, He looked at the sky and saw that the enemy prime node was still not taken so he drove the Manta there luckily encountering no serious opposition.

The sounds of screeching and guns firing began to become louder as Lionblaze got deeper into Shadowclan's territory.

Lionblaze made out his clanmates scattered and confused, they weren't faring well. Through his speakers he contacted cats from his patrol, "Cinderheart, Thornclaw, and Berrynose, I need backup!" There was a brief strained acknowledgement, before Lionblaze drove into the fray.

He dodged the Nemesis, receiving only some damage and fired at it willing to crush it. Several of his clanmates joined in until finally the vehicle exploded, debris was flying everywhere, but no cats were hurt in the explosion, Lionblaze then mercilessly slayed the Shadowclan warriors, mostly crushing them with the Manta, while they were defending their node.

Some of his clanmates cheered for him, but Lionblaze paid no attention. He abandoned the Manta and made his way swiftly into the small base set around the Enemy Prime Node. He Pulled out his link gun and pulled the trigger, and a white steady plasma beam shot out at the node. Berrynose who had come to his aid joined him till the node charged up and it was theirs. Lionblaze sighed in relief, now the hard part was destroying the core. That was when he heard more explosions and screeching. "Fuck! Not again!" Lionblaze growled.

Lionblaze took out his rocket launcher and jumped out of the building, Berrynose at his heels. Lionblaze looked around for the Manta but it had been destroyed by the flying shells and there was only crumpled and blackened metal left of it. As flak whizzed around him Lionblaze noticed a shiny new Cicada spawned on the roof of the building where the Prime node glowed red. Lionblaze raced for shelter and found a jump plate at the base of the building; he beckoned to Berrynose and leapt onto it tensing himself for the landing. Berrynose followed suit hissing as a Flak shell hit his flank and blood spayed everywhere, but he didn't complain. Lionblaze lifted himself into the Cicada and Berrynose took the turret at the bottom. Lionblaze heard shells thudding against the side but he lifted it out of easy firing range above the tree tops shooting at any cats or vehicles that he saw, but left most of the firing to Berrynose who was shrieking in joy now when he struck down a Shadowclan warrior. Lionblaze flew the vehicle to the blue core and fired at it relying on Berrynose to kill any Shadowclan warriors that fired at the Cicada. Slowly more Thunderclan cats streamed into the base out of the pine trees and kept killing the cats that respawned, though Thunderclan warriors were dying over and over just as fast as Shadowclan cats.

Lionblaze noticed that the health of his vehicle was getting low so he flew it lower to the ground where he could evacuate it without dying. Closer to the ground Lionblaze mostly ignored it but he could hear yowls, hisses and shrieks of battling cats. Just about when the Cicada exploded, Lionblaze was able to fire a last missile before leaping out leaving Berrynose to die in the explosion. Lionblaze hit the ground awkwardly but everything was okay, the Cicada however, crashed down to the ground, laced with flames, beside Lionblaze.

The missile hit the Blue core and it finally was destroyed, most of the cats nearby were killed immediately by the blast, but Lionblaze rolled behind a wall just in time before the blast brought debris flying past.

As soon as the core was completely destroyed, The Shadowclan warriors surrendered and were forced walk back to their camp tails dropping in humiliation and defeat. "Go back and rot in your holes you Shadowclan scum!" Lionblaze yowled after them, he received hisses of anger and defiance but there were similar shouts and hisses coming from the Thunderclan warriors.

Lionblaze felt tired to the bone, but triumphant. As he gathered any straggling clanmates together, he thought that Jayfeather was overreacting with his fear of the changes, at least cats could fight battles without dying permanently, and Lionblaze felt a shiver of excitement course though him, This was actually sort of fun!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4-**

Jayfeather paced back and forth, worry for his brother making him anxious. He looked around at the hollow and the tree tops still stunned by the intense greens and even brown of dying plants. Jayfeather could see a red beam shooting into the sky brightly, indicating Thunderclan's Prime Node. He could hear yowls of pain and triumph drifting above the trees and the reverberations of explosions and gunshots. Every shot made Jayfeather cringe wondering if Lionblaze would be caught in one and blown to bits.

Brightheart came trotting up to him. Jayfeather nodded at the she-cat one half of her face was torn apart from a badly planned encounter with the dog pack that once threatened the forest a long ways back. "Are you wishing that you could join them?" Brightheart queried curiously, but a hint of longing filled her voice. Jayfeather thought about it for a moment. He had always wanted to be a warrior, but he had been blind till now and his destiny had been lain out as a medicine cat. Jayfeather did feel somewhat resentful that he could never fight alongside his clanmates, and his paws wanted to carry him out onto the battlefield right now. Jayfeather nodded to Brightheart. She blinked sympathetically at him, "well maybe you'll get the chance one day."

Jayfeather snorted, "And fucking hedgehogs will fly." Brightheart sighed, and after a few moments of silence she asked, "Would you like to go out closer to the Windclan border and practice shooting at each other?" Jayfeather pricked his ears up, as much as he thought it was wrong for things to be like this he wanted to have a crack at shooting some Twoleg weapons, "a duel?" He asked hopefully, Brightheart nodded excitedly, it seemed she was missing out on the fighting too.

"Just a moment, I've got to put Firestar asleep again so he doesn't cause trouble while I'm gone." Jayfeather told Brightheart. Brightheart nodded and went to activate the respawners for the two of them. Jayfeather raced into his den, not feeling depressed for once, and grabbed a needle filled with a drug. He trotted over to Firestar's den and pushed his way silently through the lichen over-hanging the entrance. Inside Firestar was just stirring from the drug in the tranquillizer. Jayfeather walked over and stooped over his leader, "I have to give you this drug for now," Jayfeather told Firestar.

Firestar blinked blearily at Jayfeather not high on cocaine for once, and asked, "Does it have cocaine in it?" Jayfeather suppressed an annoyed sigh, but rolled his eyes, and lied, "Yes." Firestar smiled and let Jayfeather inject it. Firestar fell limp for almost immediately.

"Good riddance," Jayfeather growled, "at least it was easier this time." Jayfeather deposed the syringe and left the den, excitement clawing at his pelt. Brightheart was waiting by the Camp entrance; she handed an Enforcer to Jayfeather and kept the other for herself. "Shall we go then?" Jayfeather held the enforcer and loaded it, the gun felt good in his paws. Brightheart nodded excitedly and they trotted out of camp together, going around the perimeter of the fighting zone. All seemed quiet and the red core wasn't damaged, which meant that Thunderclan was easily repelling Shadowclan.

"Do you think they are okay out there?" Brightheart voiced Jayfeather's thoughts. Jayfeather reached with his senses and discovered that most of Shadowclan's nodes were already taken. Jayfeather nodded. Brightheart sighed in relief, and they walked silently the entire way to the battle zone Brightheart set up. They stepped over the barrier of the battle zone and it shimmered before it grew invisible so no bullets could cross it, or cats. Jayfeather nodded to Brightheart and she raced off into the trees.

Jayfeather waited until he got the signal to start and he raced from his spot looking for a gun floating above a pad set into the ground. As Jayfeather raced along heart racing he noticed a metal building that had never been there before. There had to be weapons in there. Jayfeather crouched in the shelter of brambles sniffing to see if the coast was clear, he was about to sneak out when he caught a whiff of Brightheart's scent blowing towards him in the wind.

Jayfeather backtracked and flattened himself into the brambles. Brightheart slowly stepped out of the trees, a Rocket Launcher in her paws. "Shit." Jayfeather breathed. He knew that if he alerted Brightheart to his position he would be done. So, as slowly as he could he took out his Translocator and aimed it for the top of the building. Brightheart had stopped by now and was suspiciously sniffing slowly making her way to Jayfeather's hiding place. Jayfeather held his breath and fired it.

The disk sailed silently over Brightheart's head and landed on the roof. She didn't see the disk but she stiffened and raised her Rocket Launcher at Jayfeather. He transported just in time as Brightheart shot two rockets simultaneously at the spot where Jayfeather had been. They exploded in a burst of flame and the bush exploded into little bits. Jayfeather heard Brightheart hiss, and he turned silently looking for a weapon and found a Sniper Rifle floating on the roof a few feet away. He bounded over and picked it up relishing the power he held in his paws.

Jayfeather crawled to the edge of the building where Brightheart was still sniffing around and held the scope up to his eyes. The gun felt heavy so it took a little bit to steady it, but Jayfeather aimed zooming on Brightheart's head and fired.

The shot rang out alerting Brightheart but she had no time to do anything as the shell hit her and burst in her skull shattering it in a bust of bright red blood. Jayfeather felt triumph warm his pelt, so this is what it was like to be a warrior. "Seriously, come on Jayfeather!" Brightheart's voice rang out in his receiver, Jayfeather purred in amusement, and jumped off the building avoiding the blood stained ground and raced into the building finding a Bio Rifle. "Perfect," he muttered smiling.

Jayfeather raced into the depts. of the building finding it had a long complex tunnel that branched off in several places. The tunnel grew so black that all Jayfeather could do was feel the cold air rushing by meaning that it came out somewhere on the other side. He felt some relief at the blackness that blinded him, like things where normal again, Jayfeather shook his head, there was time for that later. He sniffed around feeling for openings that led into dead ends eventually finding one. There, he waited silently smiling Brightheart would never find him.

That was when he heard a scuffling noise and her scent washed over him. Jayfeather reeled back in surprise yowling. An explosion lit up the walls and Jayfeather briefly saw Brightheart smiling mischievously before everything went black again, He had to kill Brightheart to win this round or he would have only one more chance. Then Jayfeather realized he had darkness on his side, but Brightheart didn't.

He waited as he felt Brightheart running towards him ready to crush him with an impact hammer, Just as Brightheart was in front of Jayfeather he moved to the side leaving his hind foot out to trip her. Jayfeather felt a sting as she hit his foot, but the damage was done she went crashing, yowling in astonishment, as she sailed into the far bare wall. Jayfeather used the opportunity to pounce. He yowled in joy and bit the back of her neck hard, killing her instantly.

He'd won! It felt good to Jayfeather that he could be actually useful. He dropped his weapons on the ground and bounded along the tunnel until he emerged, Brightheart was waiting on the outside smiling. "Good job Jayfeather!" She congratulated him looking very impressed. "How did you learn to fight in the dark like that? It was amazing!" Jayfeather shuffled his paws embarrassed, "Oh just a lot of practice." He muttered, ha! _Not really, I was born blind!_

Brightheart smiled and beckoned with her tail, "come on lets go back to camp, that was fun!" Jayfeather nodded and they swiftly trotted back to the camp. When they got back everything was quiet and Jayfeather could still hear the battle drifting over the trees closer to Shadowclan's core.

Jayfeather and Brightheart retired to their separate dens and Jayfeather suddenly feeling worn out from the excitement settled down into his nest and his eyes closed immediately, his sleep was dreamless.

Jayfeather woke with a start as excited mews filled the hollow. Jayfeather got up opening his eyes still not used to seeing his nest in front of him as he stretched luxuriously. He pushed his way out feeling rejuvenated, seeing that dusk was rapidly falling. Jayfeather looked at the returning warriors; excitement leaching off their pelts in waves. Jayfeather scanned the clearing for Lionblaze spotting his now golden fur right away amongst the pelts of his clanmates.

Jayfeather raced over to see his brother, excitement shinning in his golden eyes, "How'd it go?" Jayfeather blurted out, Lionblaze looked full of adrenaline though Jayfeather could sense exhaustion rolling off his pelt in waves. Lionblaze answered, "It was great! I really couldn't have had much more fun beating Shadowclan like that!" Jayfeather sniffed his brother's pelt for wounds. "No injuries?" Jayfeather asked him, Lionblaze shook his head, "No. when you respawn you have no wounds at all though other cats might have wounds." Jayfeather sighed in relief, and left his brother to go and rest in his den.

Jayfeather searched through his exhausted clanmates, for the most part they had been respawned near the end of the battle and only walked away with minor injuries that Jayfeather could heal, but he sent Ivypool and Leafpool away, who had received more awful wounds. They limped away as Jayfeather dealt with a bullet lodged in Poppyfrost's shoulder. Jayfeather dug the bullet out of her skin with his claws. "OW YOU FUCKER!" she screeched as the bullet popped out with a small spray of blood and puss. Jayfeather hopped out of the way as she hopped around growling.

Jayfeather rolled his eyes and held her still so he could dress her wound, "It's only a bullet!" Jayfeather growled exasperated. He let her go telling Poppyfrost to get some rest and moved on to the rest of his clanmates. He finished quickly because of the respawners and he was able to move on to His den. Jayfeather licked the blood off his paws and saw to Ivypool first who had more serious injuries. In fact she had passed out from the lack of blood and Jayfeather moved her into a nest. He examined the multiple claw and bullet gashes along her body which were bleeding heavily. He cleaned and dressed the wounds absently with dock and bound them up tightly.

Leafpool was moaning, "OMFG! It hurts! My fucking leg hurts!" Jayfeather sighed at the useless cat, "welcome to the fucking real world." He muttered before going to see what was wrong. He sniffed at Leafpool's bloodstained pelt, and found several shallow claw marks, but nothing else except for a sprain hind paw. Jayfeather pushed it into place and left to go into his stores. He grabbed a mouthful of herbs and dropped them in front of Leafpool, who was shivering.

Here, you're a medicine cat, make yourself useful and heal yourself. He walked away without seeing Leafpool's reaction and left the den. He shook his fur out and headed over to the entrance where Dovewing was sitting. She looked troubled and Jayfeather could feel waves of curiosity and confusion rolling off her. "Hello Dovewing," he meowed. She swung around tense only to see it was Jayfeather. "Hi Jayfeather," she returned the greeting. "Was the battle okay?" Jayfeather asked carefully, wondering if Dovewing knew about how everything had changed. Dovewing shuffled her paws, "It was great!" Jayfeather was curious and relieved it seemed as though she enjoyed it, but something else was troubling her. Jayfeather decided to be more open.

Did you notice anything rather strange about this battle?" He asked her with a low voice. Dovewing clearly understood what Jayfeather was asking, because she looked at him relief showing in her eyes, and blurted out quietly, "It's not supposed to be like this is it?" Jayfeather shook his head.

"I thought so, because you shouldn't be able to see anything, and these Twoleg weapons aren't normal either." Jayfeather felt relief claw at his pelt, and nodded. Dovewing's eyes widened in shock and disbelief, "But what do we do?" Jayfeather felt hopelessness wrench his guts, "Nothing, for now."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5-**

Lionblaze opened his eyes to see bright sunshine shining into the entrance of the warriors den; he got up feeling refreshed after the battle. Most of the warriors that had taken part were still sleeping and Leafpool had been kicked out of the medicine den during the night. Lionblaze stretched and groomed out his fur finding it clumped still by other cat's blood.

Lionblaze walked out of the den feeling the warm sun hit his golden pelt and warm his sore muscles. "That was some battle hey?" Lionblaze turned to see Cinderheart happily trotting over. Lionblaze nodded absently once again reminded that this shouldn't have happened at all. Cinderheart noticed that Lionblaze was preoccupied. "What's wrong?" she began, "aren't you happy that we beat Shadowclan?" Lionblaze felt awkward how could he explain to her that he was truly distracted by the thought of the sudden appearance of Twoleg weapons and vehicles?

"I'm happy; in fact I had a lot of fun! But…" Lionblaze trailed off unsure what to say, Cinderheart gazed at him concerned, "I'm not really sure that what we have going on here… is right." Cinderheart clearly mistook the sentence, because she looked at him with sympathy and meowed comfortingly, "its okay, I sometimes get thrown off by the violence too, every cat does." Lionblaze then knew with dismay that Cinderheart had no idea of the changes that had come to pass. Lionblaze sighed, and walked away towards the freshkill pile, feeling his belly growl in hunger.

Cinderheart didn't follow him only stood gazing after him with a flash of longing in her eyes. Lionblaze went and grabbed a sparrow off the pile and carried it over to where Dovewing was gulping down a squirrel. Lionblaze sat down by her, wondering suddenly if she knew what happened being one of the three. Lionblaze greeted her with a friendly nod; Dovewing looked up, "Oh hello Lionblaze!" Dovewing looked troubled and her voice sounded too bright. "Dovewing," He began. She gazed at him steadily, "did you notice anything strange about the," "Yes!" she cut him off, "I did notice and Jayfeather already talked to me last night while you were asleep."

Lionblaze sighed relieved but also feeling resentful that Jayfeather didn't let him know that Dovewing knew. He shrugged inwardly, oh well it can't be helped. Lionblaze gulped down his sparrow and then got up leaving Dovewing alone. Wondering what he should do since most of the patrols were sent out earlier he began towards Brambleclaw, looking to ask if he could take a hunting patrol to stock the freshkill pile.

Brambleclaw was on the edge of the hollow conferring with Thornclaw, Foxleap, Cloudtail, Sandstorm, and Graystripe, who in Lionblaze's opinion shouldn't be in any shape to take part in an obviously important meeting. Graystripe was listening, or so it appeared, because he was shaking and muttering under his breath and clawing up paw fulls of grass. Though no cat paid any attention, Brambleclaw was clearly annoyed.

Lionblaze stopped and sat down at a respectful distance away from the group. Lionblaze waited until they began to break up but before Lionblaze could do anything, Brambleclaw hurried past him and sprang up on the Highledge, clearly anxious. "All cats old enough to- Thunderclan just get the hell over here!" Lionblaze was curious suddenly and hurried to find a place amongst his gathering clanmates. He ended up seated between Spiderleg and Redpaw; they too had clearly noticed their deputy's distress. The red furred apprentice turned to Lionblaze, "Do you know what's going on?" Lionblaze shook his head and beckoned for silence as Brambleclaw began to speak.

"Cats of Thunderclan! Foxleap has just reported about a plot by Shadowclan to wage a full war on the clans alongside the Dark Forest!" Gasps of shock and dismay filled the clearing, "But the dark Forest warriors are dead!" The clan slowly silenced and turned to Dovewing who now looked embarrassed, clearly, the Dark Forest was back. _Shit, stupid Dovewing!_ Lionblaze thought furiously at her carelessness, but too late the damage was done.

"No their not!" Berrynose spoke out scornfully, they've been around forever!" Dovewing was starting to panic now as similar exclamations sprung up from the clan, until Jayfeather stepped forward and defended her smoothly, "She must be confused by the old Dark Forest before this one reformed again." Dovewing looked crossly at Jayfeather, but she had been saved of being asked awkward questions, and some of the older warriors purred amused. Suddenly an impatient voice spoke out, "_Anyways_, we need to be well prepared." Brambleclaw was looking agitated and the clan silenced quickly so he wouldn't begin raging.

"I've discussed this with some of my most senior warriors and we've decided that we will do daily night and day training for the apprentices and warriors." Several protests rose up from the clan, "but what about patrols!" "We can't be too tired for a battle!" but Brambleclaw wasn't finished, he cleared his throat, "fine I will discuss a practice schedule with my senior warriors, _and_ we need to ask Windclan and Riverclan for aid." With that, the meeting was over and Brambleclaw jumped off the Highledge and the clan dispersed into tense murmuring groups. Lionblaze plodded through the crowd over to Dovewing who was looking thoroughly embarrassed, "stupid mousebrain!" Lionblaze hissed at her quietly, "as much as you feel concerned about what's going on, you have to keep your mouth shut!" Dovewing looked at him and make an apology, "I'm sorry Lionblaze. I won't do that again." Lionblaze snorted and walked over to where Brambleclaw was trying to get cats to gather around him so he could gather a patrol.

"I'll lead a patrol," Lionblaze offered. Brambleclaw relaxed, "Thank you Lionblaze. In fact, would you like to lead a practice patrol to the Twoleg nest?" "Sure, but what should I do about Jayfeather's herb garden?" Lionblaze asked, Brambleclaw seemed to roll his eyes before replying, "You can set barriers around it, and take Hazeltail, Blossomfall, Bumblestripe, Icecloud, Whitewing, Cloudtail, Larchpaw, Redpaw, Spiderleg, and Mousewhisker." Lionblaze dipped his head and trotted off to find his clanmates, happy that he could lead a patrol himself.

Lionblaze found Blossomfall and Bumblestripe on the edge of the clearing chatting by the nursery. Lionblaze beckoned with his tail, Brambleclaw wants me to take you two out on a training patrol, can you find Hazeltail, Icecloud, Whitewing, Cloudtail, Larchpaw, Redpaw, Spiderleg, and Mousewhisker?" Bumblestripe leaped up right away with his sister, "Great! A training patrol, Sure! They went off into the clearing and Lionblaze sighed.

Lionblaze walked over and waited by the camp entrance for his patrol equipped with some of the basic starting weapons, each cat used in a Capture the Flag round. Before long his patrol was gathered around Lionblaze. Before setting off he instructed his patrol, "Okay, so we will do a Round of Capture the Flag with vehicles," There were several quiet murmurs of satisfaction at Lionblaze's plan, "I want to take Blossomfall, Spiderleg , Redpaw, Icecloud, and Mousewhisker," They dipped their heads in confirmation, "and Cloudtail, you can lead the other patrol," the older cat flicked his ears pleased, and then after making sure that every cat had the same weapons Lionblaze led his patrol towards the Twoleg nest.

On the way Larchpaw and Redpaw kept running ahead and sniffing every bush and wrestling excitedly, Lionblaze watched, purring with amusement until, Redpaw and Larchpaw came tumbling towards him and Lionblaze jumped out of the way narrowly missing being tripped.

"Okay you two!" he yowled at the apprentices, "this time to be serious! We can't have you worn-out out for battle training!" The two apprentices stopped wrestling and hung their heads, "We're sorry Lionblaze, we were just excited for training." "You'll have plenty of time for fun while we train." Lionblaze purred, the other warriors purred in amusement and they continued on.

At the boundary of the battle zone Lionblaze stopped his patrol, "now remember, we need to work as _teams_. Or we will never be able to fight other clans properly." The patrol nodded and Cloudtail gathered his assigned warriors around him and they whisked off into the undergrowth towards their flag.

Lionblaze led his patrol and soon they came upon their own base. A large metal and stone building with two or three passages big enough to accommodate most vehicles cut into them. A turret also sat on a rail above the middle passage, which led straight to the flag. The blue base would be set up like this too. Redpaw bounced excitedly and there were eager meows that sounded from his waiting patrol. Lionblaze looked at Blossomfall, "Blossomfall, you're quick and silent, why don't you try to take the flag this first run." Blossomfall's eyes shone in pleasure, "I'll do my best Lionblaze." "Good. Now the rest of you know what to do." Spiderleg and his apprentice Redpaw nodded eyes shining and silently went and took their positions in wait by the nearest weapon spawner.

Lionblaze waited for the approval from Cloudtail, but as he waited a cat's voice crackled into his receiver. It was Sandstorm, "yes Sandstorm?" Lionblaze inquired curiously wondering why she would contact him from camp. Sandstorm answered Lionblaze's questioning thoughts, "_Firestar_," Lionblaze flinched at how sandstorm spat the word out contemptuously, "had an idea to improve the way we fight. And as much as I hate him," Sandstorm sighed, "it's a good idea."

Lionblaze flicked his ears interestedly; Firestar was mostly high on cocaine and had almost destroyed all his brain cells, so how could his leader even make conscious decisions to help his clan fight better?

Sandstorm continued, "Firestar wants to have a cat at base keeping an eye on through cameras and communicating with each team, so the team doesn't have to keep a constant eye on everything that is going on." "That's a good idea," Lionblaze agreed thoughtfully, "Does Cloudtail know?" "Oh yes, Squirrelflight is going to relay information to the other team," Lionblaze nodded approvingly, "That's good, thanks Sandstorm."

Lionblaze turned to his teammates; they looked at him curiously, tails flicking in anticipation. "Firestar has a new plan for how we do battles," Spiderleg rolled his eyes, he had come back over wondering what was keeping them for so long, "Doesn't Firestar always come up with a plan," He muttered sarcastically. Lionblaze secretly agreed with his clanmate but he didn't say anything instead kept explaining the plan, "there will be a cat communicating with and watching each team they are assigned to, to relay information to all of us." Lionblaze's team muttered excitedly, "So if this works we'll do this for all our battles?" Icecloud asked.

Lionblaze shook his head unsure, "I think so, but I'm not really sure," "What information will we be told?" Mousewhisker queried. "Probably basic things like, when to start, where the flags are, and our scores." Mousewhisker nodded seeming satisfied with Lionblaze's answer. "Lionblaze!" Sandstorm's impatient voice crackled into his receiver, "honestly, are you ready to start yet?"

"Oh, yes." "Good, Cloudtail is ready." Lionblaze signaled with his tail to his teammates as Sandstorm counted down from three. Lionblaze rushed off towards a weapon spawner that had weapons over it as soon as Sandstorm hit one. Lionblaze glanced at his weapons, feeling pleasure as he noticed the red barrel of the rocket launcher, the white of a Link Gun.

Lionblaze streaked off behind Blossomfall who was already darting through the bushes. Lionblaze whisked down a slope hearing a Manta flash silently overhead, driven by Spiderleg, so far it was quiet, but it wouldn't be for long,

Lionblaze whipped around diving out of the path of Icecloud who was struggling to drive the small Scorpion, almost ran him over. Blossomfall ran ahead through the green trees and was soon out of sight. Lionblaze hissed angrily as Icecloud crashed the Scorpion into a large tree damaging it, then backing up into a rock. Lionblaze stalked over and opened the door and hissed at Icecloud, "give me thee goddamn vehicle." Icecloud hopped out hastily and Lionblaze seated himself inside of it and drove off after Blossomfall.

He hadn't gone more than a few feet when Hazeltail and Blossomfall burst out of a large clump of bracken, screeching and tumbling, clawing each other ferociously. "Not on my watch!" Lionblaze growled, turning the Scorpion off its path towards the two shrieking she cats. Hazeltail was so intent on trying to kill Blossomfall that she didn't notice Lionblaze coming until it was too late.

Hazeltail had pinned Blossomfall down and was scoring her claws, with a blood thirsty rage, over Blossomfall's flank. Lionblaze noticed that Hazeltail was far enough away so that he wouldn't kill his own teammate and roared the Scorpion aiming at Hazeltail. She stopped and looked with a look of shock on her face, before Lionblaze hit her, smiling with morbid glee as blood splattered everywhere against the vehicle tires, and a shriek of pain was cut short by a sickening crunch. Blossomfall who was now struggling up, with blood streaming from her flanks, smiled at Lionblaze as he stopped the vehicle, "couldn't you have killed her a little cleaner," Lionblaze purred at Blossomfall's tone, she was covered in blood more than her own, and splattered gore slid down her chest. "Oops." Lionblaze shrugged.

Lionblaze turned the vehicle around keeping close to Blossomfall who was now leading him on her hoverboard. Lionblaze passed the abandoned Twoleg nest noticing Jayfeather's herb garden, it was shielded from the battle. "Holy shit!" Lionblaze yowled as three rockets sprung up out of the bushes in front of him and collided with the scorpion damaging it heavily. Lionblaze swerved surprised, and collided with a tree crumpling the front engine of the vehicle smoke filled the body making Lionblaze's eyes water, tiny flame flickered in the front of the scorpion, "Oh shit!" Lionblaze yowled he threw himself out of the vehicle a moment before it exploded. Lionblaze rolled out of the way and sprang up finding himself face to face with Bumblestripe, who was smiling gleefully. Lionblaze panicked and he flung his paw out at Bumblestripe's face knocking him twenty feet in the air.

Lionblaze's eyes widened, he had no idea that he could punch that hard, he knew he was strong but not that strong. Yowling, Bumblestripe twisted in the air dropped his Flack Cannon and collided with the hard walls of the Twoleg nest dying instantly. Lionblaze raced over and grabbed the Flak Cannon, and raced towards Cloudtail's base hoping Blossomfall had got the flag though it was probably unlikely, since she was so wounded already. Sandstorms voice sounded out, "The blue flag has been taken." Lionblaze raced towards the other base knowing Blossomfall wouldn't have much time before Cloudtail's team overwhelmed her and took back the blue flag.

Lionblaze soon came in sight of the other base and was now extra cautious; he could be jumped at any time. It seemed that Blossomfall had made it past the large empty area where she could have been easily killed, but where was she now? Lionblaze looked around all of his opponents vehicles where gone, in use right now probably. Suddenly explosions and clatters sounded nearby behind Lionblaze. A cat shrieked in pain as they were gunned down. Lionblaze flew towards the trees, knowing by scent that Blossomfall was still there and alive. Lionblaze leaped out of the trees, into a battlefield hurdling into Whitewing, who shrieked in shock.

Lionblaze tore at her with his claws with no mercy, feeling wet warm blood splatter onto his chest and flank. Lionblaze then left her struggling bleeding to death, by the time they got the flag back to his base; she would be respawned wound free again. Lionblaze dodged around Hazeltail who tried to flatten him with her Manta. Lionblaze shoved Blossomfall who was trying to stay alive and out of enemy fire, and leapt at Hazeltail, miraculously landing unharmed on top of the Manta.

Hazeltail gulped in surprise as Lionblaze reached in and pulled her out of the vehicle. Which swerved madly throwing them both off Lionblaze clung to Hazeltail using her body as a shield as she struck a nearby tree. Lionblaze heard her huff as the breath got pushed out of her Lionblaze struck the ground feeling his shoulder hit a protruding root painfully. Lionblaze was the first to struggle up and he pulled out his Flak Cannon and held it up to Hazeltail, whose eyes widened in shock.

Lionblaze pulled the trigger and flak shot out hitting Hazeltail straight in the head. She exploded in a bloody mess and Lionblaze whisked off feeling gore splatter over his haunches. Lionblaze soon caught up to Blossomfall, who was slipping stealthily through the undergrowth with the blue flag strapped to her back. So far she had managed to avoid Cloudtail's team, miraculously, but Lionblaze knew that wouldn't last for long. Lionblaze turned to see Bumblestripe racing out of a large clump of ferns yowling and firing a Minigun at Blossomfall. "Shit!" Lionblaze muttered. But luckily Bumblestripe was too intent on Blossomfall and Lionblaze ran up and stuck his foot out in Bumblestripe's path.

The stripped warrior went tumbling, and Lionblaze unleashed his rockets upon him until there was nothing left but a red smear on the ground. Lionblaze then streaked off after Blossomfall, unfortunately, he failed to notice that Larchpaw was following them upon the tree branches silently like a shadow. Blossomfall acknowledged Lionblaze with a flick of her tail. They were almost at the Twoleg Nest; it was coming in sight between the trees, when a sniper shell reverberated in the air above the two cats.

Lionblaze reeled back surprised, but the shell wasn't for him, but Blossomfall, she stumbled and fell rolling several times dropping the flag. She was dead, Larchpaw yowled, "Yes! In your face Blossomfall!" jumped from the tree as Lionblaze was recovering and trotted triumphantly towards the blue flag. "Oh no you don't!" Lionblaze growled and yanked his own sniper rifle out that he didn't remember picking up, but must have picked it up on the way here. He aimed the crosshairs at Larchpaw's head and pulled the trigger. Her head exploded and she sank slowly to the ground limbs twitching madly. Lionblaze quickly picked his way around the scattered brain and picked up the flag, he glanced around rumbling in his throat, "Where the fuck is everyone? Redpaw! get the hell over here, I need backup!" he shouted into his speaker.

Lionblaze raced off past the abandoned Twoleg nest and picked up speed as he deployed his Hoverboard. Lionblaze heard the roar of a vehicle behind him and swung his head around to see a Manta racing up behind him. He sighed in relief as he saw the bright coloured head of Redpaw. Now convinced that he was safe, since he had already gone far, and was close to his own base, Lionblaze made his Hoverboard go as fast as possible.

He could hear shots resounding in the trees every once in a while and the answering fire of Redpaw's Manta. But nothing hit Lionblaze and he was in a few minutes back at his own base, he raced into the tunnel elated then put the blue flag down by the red one, yowling, "I've won!" in to his speaker.

Explosions and gunfire that Lionblaze had been hearing vaguely throughout the match through his receiver died down and stopped. Spiderleg, who had been guarding the base off and on came up to Lionblaze eyes shining, "good job Lionblaze, you fought well." Spiderleg then went off to meet with the other cats from the patrol.

It was not long before every cat had gathered around, some of them were bleeding from various wounds while others had been killed just as the battle ended and respawned good as new again. But it didn't matter since they would be healed as soon as they stepped out of the battle zone. Lionblaze scanned his patrol, every cat, including Blossomfall was smiling happily, though Cloudtail's patrol looked a little disappointed, every cat was in the end happy with the mock battle.

"Good job everyone, Brambleclaw and Firestar will be pleased with the battle." Blossomfall's eyes shone with pleasure as Lionblaze directed his praise at his praise partly at her. Feeling refreshed with the fake battle. Lionblaze waved his tail, "come on, let's get back to camp." And they filed out of the training area, chatting excitedly, the buildings, vehicles and weapons disappearing as the battle zone was deactivated.

Lionblaze felt good about this fight, it was so fun! But why couldn't it be like this always?


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6-**

Lionblaze led the way into the camp entrance to meet Brambleclaw, Sandstorm, and Squirrelflight waiting to meet them. Firestar was nowhere in sight. Brambleclaw noticed Lionblaze's searching gaze, "Firestar's in his den high on cocaine again," Brambleclaw snorted disdainfully. "So? How'd it go?" The deputy asked. Lionblaze spoke for his entire patrol, "it went great, they all fought well." There were purrs of pleasure at Lionblaze's praise and thinking back to the practice battle.

Brambleclaw nodded satisfied, "good. Why don't you all get some freshkill and rest for a while." The patrol gradually split up and went over to the fully stocked freshkill pile, Lionblaze turned to go but Brambleclaw wasn't finished, "Lionblaze," Lionblaze stopped and looked up, "did you think having a cat to communicate with our teams is a good idea?" Lionblaze nodded, "Oh yes, it was much easier to focus on the battle that way." Brambleclaw nodded narrowing his amber eyes, "I was thinking we should announce this to the clans at the gathering, to get them to change the way we battle."

Lionblaze looked at Brambleclaw confused, first of all, his deputy was consulting him instead of his senior warriors, and I didn't seem that the clans should know about this new way of fighting. "But Brambleclaw, Don't we want an advantage over the other clans in battle?"

Brambleclaw's eyes flashed with a brief moment of anger, but it passed and Lionblaze could have easily imagined it, "Well you are right, but it just feels unfair…" Brambleclaw trailed off and a haze flashed over his eyes, before he shook his head, never mind, you're right Lionblaze." Brambleclaw waved his warrior away with his tail, "You should eat now, you must be starving." Lionblaze dipped his head and trotted off to the freshkill pile. Lionblaze suddenly realized how hungry he was, the sun was long past its height and orange light was beginning to fill the sky from the setting sun. They must have been out a long time.

Lionblaze looked around looking hopefully for someone. He brightened when he saw Cinderheart approaching from the camp entrance, with two mice and a vole swinging from her jaws. When she stopped by Lionblaze he pulled a rabbit off the pile and motioned towards it with his tail, "would you like to share with me, Cinderheart?" Lionblaze looked at her hopefully as she flicked her ears indecisively for a moment. "Okay."

Lionblaze carried the rabbit to a spot by the nettle patch and settled down in a patch of warm sunlight comfortably. Cinderheart settled beside him. They were quiet for a moment, neither of them touching the rabbit, until Cinderheart broke the silence. "So, how was your battle practice?" Lionblaze brightened, "it was great! I had a lot of fun!" "So your team won?" Lionblaze nodded, Blossomfall did a great job when she carried the flag, and she was excellent until Larchpaw came along." Lionblaze purred amused, "I didn't even notice her; she had been following us like a shadow through the trees until she sniped Blossomfall, It was a perfect shot and I was surprised for a moment, and almost lost the flag to her." Cinderheart purred in response "Thunderclan's apprentices are doing well." Lionblaze murmured in agreement.

Lionblaze pushed the rabbit over to her, "You can have the first bite." Cinderheart nodded and took a hungry bite out. Lionblaze's stomach growled as the rabbit scent washed over him and he took a bite right away, feeling the delicious flavours seep into his mouth. Cinderheart and Lionblaze took turns until the rabbit was gone. Lionblaze lay back and washed himself sleepily feeling contented to have Cinderheart at his side. He looked into her eyes, as they met Cinderheart looked away hastily and licked her flank. "I'm going to go now, Thank you Lionblaze." She dipped her head respectfully and trotted away leaving Lionblaze feeling flustered and annoyed with the she cat.

"What did you do to get under her skin?" Lionblaze turned to see Mousewhisker striding over. Lionblaze shook his head not wanting to talk, and besides, he wouldn't be able to explain to Mousewhisker about the prophecy, the only thing keeping Cinderheart away from him. "Don't worry Lionblaze, she cats can be difficult sometimes," Lionblaze just grunted and didn't say anything. Mousewhisker sighed and walked away leaving Lionblaze alone. Lionblaze felt tiredness drag at his pelt so he got up and went into the warriors den deciding to go to sleep.

The sun was almost set and only a few cats were resting in their nests, but only those that had been wounded in the battle with Shadowclan and were still recovering. Lionblaze settled into his nest sighing as he drifted into sleep.

Five sunrises after the battle, Lionblaze was just leading a patrol out of the camp when Firestar, surprisingly not high for once, leaped up onto the Highledge and called the clan together for a meeting. His leader looked normal, perhaps he was getting help for his addictions, Lionblaze thought optimistically. Lionblaze turned to go to the Highledge at Firestar's summons, Lionblaze's patrol looked up curiously so did the gathering clan. "Cats of Thunderclan," Firestar began, "tonight is the night of the gathering, and we need to find out what Shadowclan's and the Dark Forest's plans are before the gathering, in case they break the truce and attack our camp!" The clan was silent, waiting for Firestar to finish. But they were tense at the mention of the Dark Forest.

Lionblaze shivered thinking of the deadly but ambitious leader Tigerstar and his son Hawkfrost. They had trained Lionblaze at night, with the plot to use him to become a killing machine. But then, hadn't he become just that? Lionblaze never wanted to go back to that evil forest ever again. The problem was, was that these cats were alive now, and even more dangerous than before when they could get a hold of such Twoleg weapons.  
Firestar continued, "I want one cat to go over into Shadowclan territory and the Dark Forest's territory under cover and investigate them today!" The clan was speechless and quiet at this suggestion. Lionblaze spoke up boldly, "but Firestar, isn't it a little dangerous to go into the Dark Forest's territory? None of us are crazy enough to do that!" Firestar whipped around neck fur bristling, and fixed Lionblaze with an icy stare, "then do you want to go?" he growled quietly. Lionblaze shook his head eyes wide, "I was just saying that- "NO!" Firestar hissed, "You little bitch, I know why don't _you_ go?"

Lionblaze was taken aback along with the rest of the clan Lionblaze heard Cloudtail mutter, "Well, it seems that the withdrawal is bad enough that Firestar would waste our best warriors." Firestar whipped his head around to glare at Cloudtail, "How about you shut up little bitch!" he hissed. Cloudtail shut up but he rolled his eyes making a face. Firestar turned to Jayfeather who was staring at Firestar shock shining in his eyes.

"Jayfeather, go and prepare Lionblaze for his mission. Everyone else, the meeting is over. But Lionblaze is not to come back until he has obtained any information about Shadowclan's plans." Lionblaze stared at Firestar as he whisked around and stalked into his den. _Yep, Firestar has definitely gone cuckoo. _The clan quietly dispersed into small quiet groups casting sympathetic glances at Lionblaze. To his surprise, Berrynose came up and set his tail on Lionblaze's shoulders, "I so sorry about what happened, all I can say, is good luck." Lionblaze shrugged Berrynose away and set off to Jayfeather's den. "Lionblaze! What's going on?" Cinderheart raced up to him clearly shocked. Lionblaze shook his head, "I really didn't know that Firestar hated me so much, but why?" He murmured, Cinderheart shook her head just as confused.

She silently accompanied Lionblaze to the medicine den pressing up against him, Lionblaze was glad for her support and warmth at his side. Jayfeather met him in the den and pushed a paw full of herbs up to Lionblaze, Strengthening herbs. Lionblaze looked at Jayfeather, "is that all?" Jayfeather nodded, "Firestar wouldn't let me give you anything else." Jayfeather sounded worried and irritated, "Lionblaze, what's wrong with Firestar?" Lionblaze didn't know what to say, "I really don't know," he said helplessly.

Lionblaze licked up the herbs and straightened up, "I promise I will be careful, and I will come back." "But Lionblaze," Cinderheart began, "Every cat knows that the Dark Forest is suicide, never mind Shadowclan!" Lionblaze pressed himself against her with no words to say and left the den. The clan was standing around watching silently making Lionblaze's pelt itch, Brambleclaw came up to him, sympathy shinning in his eyes. The deputy handed Lionblaze an Enforcer and Shock Rifle, "Here, just in case." Lionblaze clearly caught the meaning, he felt anger swell up inside him, he grabbed the weapons and fastened them to his belt over his light camo armour that appeared there, and with all the dignity he could muster, stalked out of camp. Once out of Camp, Sandstorm's voice sounded in his earpiece, "Lionblaze I'm so sorry about Firestar, there was nothing I could do." There was rage and strain behind her voice but Lionblaze shook it away, "whatever, not much I can do about it now."

Lionblaze looked around and set off to the Dark Forest's territory, He had terrifying thoughts of what would happen if Tigerstar or Hawkfrost caught him there, and he knew that if he was caught they would probably kill him on sight, and this wasn't a normal battle where he could be respawned if he died. Lionblaze streaked off up towards the top edge of Thunderclan's territory but closer to Shadowclan's border where the Dark Forest was.

Lionblaze reached the border before long and was now extra cautious. The trees up here were older and larger than in his territory and Lionblaze could see the beginnings of Nano Black starting to seep into the roots of the trees nearer to the Thunderclan territory. Lionblaze stepped around a large puddle, seeing with disgust how black it was. He got deeper into the territory, now cautious darting from bush to bush. He noticed how brown and dead looking the ground was and shuddered when he brushed against a black wet frond of a fern that grew beside a reeking stream filled with Nano Black. "How the hell do they live here?" Lionblaze muttered repulsed.

"Sandstorm, where is the camp?" Sandstorm replied with a hint of hesitation through his ear piece, "Not far from where you are just keep going in the general direction you are going in until you reach a huge boulder covered in giant fungus." Lionblaze obeyed and stalked in that direction heart pounding, every muscle tense. As he got deeper into the territory he began to notice more manufactured objects that seem to act as pipelines for the large barbed tentacles that moved through them and stretched up into the sky dark purple clouded sky, they were getting bigger and bigger, meaning he must be closer to the Dark Forest's camp.

Then the thought struck him, where were all the Dark Forest warriors? They ought to be aware or somewhere in their territory. Lionblaze had a feeling he shouldn't go to the rock, he didn't know why, but it was only a feeling. Lionblaze began to feel as though he was being watched and through the thick bushes, he spotted the large rock glowing sickly blue in an open clearing.

Lionblaze armed himself with the shock rifle and stopped before entering the clearing. He sniffed cautiously, but the scent of Nano Black poison, was too over powering to scent anything, "Shit." Lionblaze muttered worried. Something wasn't right. "Sandstorm?" There was no answer, "Sandstorm!" Lionblaze hissed. Still no reply, Lionblaze shrugged and stepped wearily into the clearing, it was empty the rock rose high in to sky and the tentacles trailed out of it and wrapped strangely around it. Tentacles rose around the large clearing, and the way the land formed in a bowl, it made natural walls. Lionblaze began to make out a strange architecture of patterns in the wood and made out what looked like holes in arching dens.

Lionblaze's eyes widened and his gut wrenched, "Oh fuck…" a commotion sounded in his ear piece, like fighting, but Lionblaze couldn't really tell, "Sandstorm's panicked voice shrieked in his earpiece making Lionblaze flinch, "Lionblaze! Get the hell out of there, it a- Whatever she was going to say, she never completed, and the connections were cut, "What…?" Lionblaze whisked around as the sound of a cracking twig sounded behind him but too late.

A shadow whisked at the edge of his vision, he felt a blunt pain on his head and everything went suddenly black.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7-**

Lionblaze felt blackness engulfing his vision. _Am I dead?_ his head throbbed and with every breath he took he felt the painful throb assail him. Lionblaze slowly opened his eyes and realized that he wasn't dead. Lionblaze raised his head feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him, "Holy shit, where the hell am I?" He murmured to himself groggy.

Lionblaze looked around to see a bare empty dark stone room with a single dim flickering light at the far edge lace with old cobwebs. The walls were coated in slimy black stuff like dark algae and the room stank of mould and decay, making Lionblaze curl his lip in revulsion. Lionblaze slowly got up feeling slightly unsteady, his head still throbbed. Lionblaze got a better look at the room and he realized ominously, that there was old blood stains dotted all over the walls and floor. Lionblaze shuddered when he saw a huge smear of blood not old but almost fresh.

Lionblaze scanned the room seeing the black tentacles that slowly slithered through the ceiling and in the corners of the walls. Lionblaze looked for his weapons, but they were gone, and so was his equipment except for the thin vest he wore under his armour.

Lionblaze sat down feeling dizzy as the horrible smell of crow food drifted from cracks in the walls and floor. Lionblaze didn't care or want to know what was rotting in there. He shook his fur out feeling disgusted by the dirt and grime that clung to it. Not knowing what to do Lionblaze just sat there, in the only spot not coated by blood or Nano Black residue, he guessed. Time passed and nothing happened, it must had been more than a day because the effects of the traveling herbs had long worn off and Lionblaze's stomach was clenched in hunger.

Suddenly a rat scurried across the floor, without thinking, Lionblaze jumped on it and nipped its neck killing it instantly. Lionblaze bit into it right away but spat it out letting out a disgusted snarl at the revolting taste, and not even at the rat itself. Lionblaze's stomach growled and his mouth watered but he pushed it away shoving the body far into a large deep crack, big enough for the rat's body. Lionblaze sat down and waited, feeling not fear, or panic, but a mild curiosity at what would happen next. Lionblaze then started to ponder about why Firestar had sent _him_ on such an evidently dangerous mission. But no ideas came to mind.

Lionblaze shrugged and sighed, all that was important was escaping from the Dark Forest. He knew that Tigerstar would want something from Lionblaze, but what?

Lionblaze began to feel exhaustion drag at his pelt and his eyes felt heavy, so he decided to settle down where he was sitting, though the floor was freezing and covered in filth. Slowly Lionblaze's eyes drifted closed and dark dreams filled his mind, of his greatest fears about the Dark Forest and visions of Tigerstar and Hawkfrost multiplying before him and surrounding him in ranks and ranks of themselves, stretching endlessly into the world and covering the lake, turning the sky black and the ground bleed and tear…

The visions were suddenly swept away and a soft light filled his mind. Lionblaze found himself standing by the Moonpool; the pool reflected the bright moonlight and Lionblaze felt as though it warmed his pelt. He saw to his amazement the ranks of starry warriors surrounding him, lending him their comfort and strength. Lionblaze looked for familiar faces in the star swelled ranks but none were familiar, all of them were strange to him. Lionblaze realized with shock that these ancestors weren't his warrior ancestors. "Who are you?" Lionblaze spoke out, feeling a shudder of awe that any ancestors would come to him.

The ranks of warriors seemed to all shift as one and a beautiful tortoiseshell she cat stepped out of the ranks beside a powerful white warrior. She walked up to him eyes shining in concern. She dipped her head, "welcome Lionblaze, I am Spottedleaf," Lionblaze's eyes widened at the mention of her name, the white tom dipped his head, "I am Cloudstar, once the leader of Skyclan," Lionblaze was taken by surprise, he had heard of Firestar's expedition into strange territory, long ago in the old forest, to find and unite the scattered Skyclan cats. "Why did you come to me? And where is the rest of Starclan?" Spottedleaf shook her head sadly, "I'm sorry, I wish I knew, but I don't," the medicine cat waved her tail indicating the ranks of warriors, "me and Skyclan are all that's left." Lionblaze looked at the two cats inquiringly, "What do want from _me_ though?" Cloudstar spoke this time, "The clans are in great peril, and my now my clan must help yours, you must escape from the Dark Forest and await our arrival. Hold back the forces of the Dark Forest and Shadowclan for as long as you can."

"But how do I get out of here!" Lionblaze pressed. Spottedleaf purred encouragingly, and bent to touch her muzzle to his head, "don't worry you will find a way to escape, but be warned, there is a traitor in the midst of Thunderclan." "Who?" Spottedleaf didn't answer, just shook her head painfully, sorrow flashing in her eyes. "Sleep well, and hurry."

Lionblaze had so many questions, but the warriors of Starclan began to fade one by one until darkness engulfed his vision and he fell into a deep calming sleep.

Lionblaze's eyes flew open as a bang sounded behind him, he was still in the same room, and as he scrambled up fur bristling he narrowed his eyes as light flooded into the room from an opening. Two black coloured cats, armed with Shock Rifles and their bodies covered in dark armour, and faces masked over walked into the doorway headed by a huge dark tabby cat with steady amber eyes. Lionblaze hissed silently baring his teeth. This cat was none other than Tigerstar.

Tigerstar stopped in front of him, with a look in his eyes that made Lionblaze realize the evil warrior was gloating. "What do you want?" Lionblaze snarled feeling energy fuelled by anger seeping through his bones. Tigerstar seemed to purr in amusement at Lionblaze, "I only want to have control of every clan, don't you see?" Lionblaze snorted and continued to glare icily at the dark warrior.

"No, what the hell do you want with me?" Lionblaze corrected Tigerstar. "I know you're a fucking selfish jerk, you don't need to tell me that. Any cat could see that!" Tigerstar's gaze darkened in a flash of anger but it was gone in a moment. Tigerstar flicked his tail and one of the warriors behind him was over in a flash before Lionblaze could react, and raked Lionblaze deeply over his eye, Lionblaze flinched feeling the pain as the warriors claws left a deep mark in his skin, wondering with a flash of panic if maybe he really could die in a battle at the paws of another warrior.

Lionblaze blinked the blood away feeling it sting but he stood defiantly and faced the warrior. "You have nothing to gain from keeping me here; Thunderclan has no secrets you don't know already. So you might as well kill me." Tigerstar replied his eyes shining in triumph, "No, there isn't anything for me to know, but Thunderclan has a great weakness now. Their great warrior is gone now, and there is nothing stopping the Dark Forest from destroying the clans."

Lionblaze's gut wrenched, how could he escape? It was impossible to get out of here, and he would probably die first trying. Lionblaze hissed at the dark warrior, "You won't keep me here forever!" Tigerstar seemed thoughtful, "No I won't, and that's why you won't be around much longer."

Lionblaze snarled but the tabby warrior turned around and with his warriors turned around and left the cell. Lionblaze sat down with a bump as the doors slid closed with a great boom and the room was silent again. "Well, now you're fucked." Lionblaze muttered. His stomach suddenly growled hard and there was a pit in his belly. Lionblaze sighed and got up and started pacing back and forth to help keep his mind distracted. But then thoughts of how useless the prophecy was if he couldn't get out of here and how he would die. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Lionblaze hissed, "Stupid goddamn excuse for a fucking leader!" Lionblaze continued to rant angrily but it wasn't going to help him so he eventually stopped.

Lionblaze decided to figure out why Firestar had sent him, he knew that since Firestar found out which cats were a part of the prophecy he had begun to get into drugs, so was perhaps Firestar afraid of Lionblaze? Lionblaze recalled the icy hatred shining in Firstar's eyes as he commanded Lionblaze, unjustly, to go and spy on the Dark Forest when every cat knew that it was only suicide.

Lionblaze suddenly felt a ball of ice form inside him, Firestar wanted to get rid of Lionblaze, it was the only explanation, especially when Lionblaze heard the fighting and Sandstorm yelling at him, shortly before he was ambushed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Lionblaze hissed, once again pissed off. "If I get out of here I am going to murder that fucking ginger cat!" Lionblaze muttered to himself. But how could he get out of here? Spottedleaf's voice rang in his ears,_ where there's a way there`s a will_...

"Oh yeah" Lionblaze declared sarcastically, "Thanks a lot, that's real helpful!" But Spottedleaf spoke no more, Lionblaze sighed and sat down staring gloomily into the darkness of his cell, feeling defeated for the first time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8-**

Jayfeather stared at Firestar in shock, the fur rippling on his shoulders, as the flame colored leader glared at Lionblaze with fiery hatred glimmering in his eyes. No leader should just send warriors into the Dark Forest to spy on them! Every cat knew how dangerous that was! Jayfeather longed to say something in defense of his brother, but he didn't for fear of being sent to the Dark Forest too.

The rest of the clan was shocked; Jayfeather looked at Lionblaze who was staring at Firestar in disbelief. Firestar turned his flaming eyes over to Jayfeather, "prepare Lionblaze some travelling herbs, but nothing else." Jayfeather hastily dipped his head and retreated into the medicine den mind whirling, why did Firestar hate Lionblaze so much? And what about Jayfeather? He recalled how angry Firestar was when Lionblaze contradicted him, but it wasn't even a bad contradiction.

Jayfeather squeezed into the back of his den sifting through piles of his herbs, wondering if maybe he should give some of his marijuana to Firestar, to calm his leader down, but then Jayfeather decided it wasn't worth it, Firestar would probably hate it anyways.

Jayfeather had just prepared the mixture of traveling herbs when Lionblaze walked in looking confused and shocked. Jayfeather silently pushed the strengthening herbs over to Lionblaze, Lionblaze looked at them, "is this all?" "Firestar won't let me give you anything else," Lionblaze straightened up passing his tongue over his lips several times to get rid of the taste of strengthening herbs.

Cinderheart had come into the den looking concerned; she pressed herself against Lionblaze's golden pelt and murmured in his ear though Jayfeather didn't pay any attention. Lionblaze looked at the two with despair in his eyes, "I promise I will come back, I have to," though his voice was heavy as if he knew that he would never come back. Jayfeather felt sick with worry though he usually didn't feel anything for any cat period.

The two cats walked out leaving Jayfeather alone in the stillness of his den, he had a bad feeling nagging at him that he couldn't shake off, that Firestar had picked Lionblaze to go for a specific reason. Jayfeather shook his head, whatever it didn't matter, he knew that he would have to talk to Firestar and convince him to bring Lionblaze back.

Jayfeather swept up the remains of herbs with his tail off to the side and stepped out of his den. The clan was in a somber mood and sat in huddled groups watching as Lionblaze's tail disappeared out of the camp, Jayfeather felt a shiver crawl along his spine and his belly was clenched in apprehension. No cat was eating though evening was beginning to fall and no cat engaged in the traditional rituals of sharing tongues. The camp was silent making Jayfeather's heart pounding in his chest seem all the louder, even Berrynose was quiet.

Jayfeather slipped along the edge of the clearing and jumped up onto the highledge. he heard curious mutters as the clan turned to look at him. Jayfeather ignored them and stopped at the edge of the den, "Firestar?" There was no answer, Jayfeather crept in the den.

It was empty, except for the boxes of cocaine stored in them and a small passage at the bottom of the boxes that should never have been there.

Jayfeather stalked in keeping his ears pricked behind him in case Firestar should come in. but he had his attention so focused on the passageway that he never noticed the looming shadow behind him, Jayfeather whipped around as a cat screeched angrily and before Jayfeather could see who it was, he felt a blunt pain on the back of his head and knew nothing more.

Jayfeather cracked open his eyes to see blackness surrounding his vision, he tried to lift his head but it started to spin and throb so he lay back down. The floor beneath him felt smooth and cold, and the air was so cold that his breath was probably fogging up. "What the fuck is going on…" Jayfeather muttered, his voice echoing strangely in the room he was in, suddenly a light appeared far above him and a circular object was pulled back letting bright light flood in the place he was laying in. Jayfeather's eyes widened as he realized that this was a well.

Despite his pounding head, Jayfeather staggered up and as he tipped his head back narrowing his eyes, he saw the flame colored pelt of Firestar's head appear, Jayfeather growled at his leader and though he was too far down to see, he was sure Firestar was smiling, gloating over Jayfeather's defeat, "not so powerful now, mister prophecy cat!" Firestar yowled while laughing; Jayfeather hissed but didn't say anything. "I'm going to kill you Jayfeather and no cat will know they'll think you fell and drowned in this well but nope!" Firestar was laughing his insane giggling drifting loudly down the well.

Jayfeather's fur prickled and he felt his stomach lurch in fear, he hated wells and Firestar knew it, first of all because Jayfeather had almost drowned under the tunnels in Thunderclan territory long ago, and he was terrified of the movie, "The Ring" and every cat in the clan knew it.

Firestar laughed a moment more then disappeared and the lid of the well was pulled over and slammed as darkness surrounded him once again.

All that Jayfeather could hear now was his own ragged breathing. It was completely black and silent and the silence weighed heavily on Jayfeather's ears. Suddenly he heard a rushing sound followed by a splash of freezing water that soaked his fur. Jayfeather spat crossly and jerked backwards knocking against the wall of the well, the sound of water thundering into the well filled his ears and water began to soak up around his paws.

Jayfeather froze in panic, but then forced himself to move knowing that he would die soon if he didn't try to escape. He felt along the stone walls of the well realizing that there were large enough stones spaced out enough to possibly climb out of the well Jayfeather felt in the first crack above the floor and gripped with his front paw feeling it slipping, he used his claws to steady himself, since the cracks had a good layer of hard dirt in them. Jayfeather hoisted himself up muscles tensed as water began to rise far past his paws up his back leg. Jayfeather got them out and held to the cracks above the water, trying to find the next paw hold above him as far as possible, Jayfeather found it and once again pulled himself up muscles shaking with the effort, but fear gave him the strength he needed. Jayfeather found the next crack quickly and bit by bit he was able to get high above the water level.

Jayfeather climbed for what seemed moons every step agonizingly slow until his head bump hard stone with a thud. Jayfeather sighed in relief, his muscles trembling. But that was when Jayfeather realized that he couldn't move the lid of the well, "Shit, shit, shit!" Jayfeather hissed angrily.

Suddenly Jayfeather realized that he could feel water lapping at his tail and decided that it probably wasn't worth it, that he should just let go and drown in this well and escape this cruel world. So Jayfeather giving up, let go feeling his muscles seem to sigh with relief. Jayfeather hit the freezing water, and it was a huge shock to him. Jayfeather was so tired that he almost forgot to swim but he jerked upwards and resurfaced gasping, and spitting out water that he accidentally almost swallowed but he had swallowed more than a mouthful.

Remembering from when he taught Cinderheart to swim he forced himself to move his paws calmly and smoothly like he was running in water. Not knowing what to Jayfeather stayed there the water ever rising. In the moment Jayfeather suddenly started to see bright colored things flash by his eyes, Jayfeather tried blinking them away but it didn't help.

He was starting to feel lightheaded and more things flashed in the blackness, ever more vivid than before. He could see bright colored faces with no depth and no definite shape and many things that almost frightened him. While Jayfeather was distracted the levels of the water kept rising and he was getting colder and colder, his limbs getting heavier.

Jayfeather felt his ears brush the ceiling all of a sudden jolting him out of his trancelike state, but the shapes still swarmed in front of his eyes. Jayfeather started to panic, thrashing his frozen limbs yowling in terror. As the water level rose to the top of the well Jayfeather had time to take a single breath before he was plunged into the icy water, time seemed to slow and stop and Jayfeather began to feel his lungs ache, he closed his eyes against the water and let his breath bubble out feeling his body being pushed against the stone lid.

Jayfeather felt like his lungs would burst and his mind was giving way to the almost comforting darkness that swamped him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Jayfeather's eyes flickered open and bright sunlight shone directly into his eyes making him wince, his limbs felt water-logged, and frozen like stone. Jayfeather looked around his vision blurred and his eyes came to rest upon the well, Jayfeather trembled remembering his near drowning.

That jolted him awake and the fuzziness left his mind, _who just saved me then, Or am I dead? "_Jayfeather, you're okay!" Jayfeather shook his head and drew his gaze from the thick green tree tops and looked to see Poppyfrost, Mousewhisker, Brightheart and Thornclaw, racing from the undergrowth towards him.

Jayfeather struggled up not wanting to be helped, though his limbs shook with exhaustion. Poppyfrost raced up and put her shoulders underneath him to support the weak medicine cat. Jayfeather leaned against his clanmate in relief. Brightheart sniffed Jayfeather up and down, "what the hell were you doing in the well? You could have died!" Jayfeather snorted, "Well no shit Sherlock. I obviously almost died, the lid was closed duh!"

Brightheart backed off sighing, "Well you're okay now, so we'll get you back to camp so you can rest." Brightheart supported Jayfeather from his other side and the rest of the patrol followed them. "Do you actually know who did this Jayfeather?" Thornclaw growled. Jayfeather thought about it with a realization, even though Firestar was insane and every cat hated him, Firestar was still Thunderclan's leader, although a change would have finally been great.

Jayfeather decided that he would lie about this and wait, he wanted to see what was in the back of Firestar's den and he had a feeling that no other cat except for Lionblaze should know of this. Another problem was, would Lionblaze even come back? Jayfeather had a dull ache in his gut at the thought of his brother not coming back.

"Jayfeather? Are you okay?" Jayfeather shook himself at Brightheart's question, "I'm sorry, I have no idea who threw me in that well. Whoever did knocked me out and closed the lid of the well before I could see them." Jayfeather shuddered at the memory and kept walking carefully towards the camp half dreading what he would see there. The patrol walked back in complete silence, and though the sun was still hot, it barely warmed Jayfeather's frozen body.

Just as the patrol was getting to the camp wall Squirrelflight burst out of the camp entrance looking panicked. The cats stopped but Squirrelflight was running full speed and didn't stop. She collided with Jayfeather and he felt the full force of the impact take his breath away. Jayfeather pushed her off, his joints aching and his temper out of control and the rest of the scattered patrol were staring at Jayfeather in dread. "Squirrelflight you fucking stupid bitch!" Jayfeather spat, "why don't you watch the hell where you're going already! This isn't the first time you've done this, and it will be the last time!"

"Jayfeather, what do you think you're doing?!" Brightheart screeched as Jayfeather grabbed the confused and frightened Squirrelflight and picked her up by the throat and shoved her into the middle of a heap of brambles, nettles, and thorns. Jayfeather pulled the bushes tightly around her so she couldn't get out. When Jayfeather turned around, he saw Poppyfrost and Brightheart holding out their paws and backing away. Mousewhisker was staring at Jayfeather in complete bewilderment, and Thornclaw hadn't moved but had a strange look on his face, like he was in awe of Jayfeather.

No cat said anything to Jayfeather. Squirrelflight was whimpering in pain and squealed when she tried to wriggle out only to have the thorns dig deeper into her skin. "I'm sorry Jayfeather, but..." she trailed off as Jayfeather whipped around, "What!" a distant look filled with fear entered Squirrelflight's eyes, "Sandstorm... Firestar tried to murder Sandstorm..."

Jayfeather snorted, "Why would he do that?" Though deep inside, he knew the answer, "Lionblaze!" Jayfeather hissed. Jayfeather raced away leaving his clanmates staring in confusion after him. Jayfeather didn't care; he also didn't care about leaving Squirrelflight in those bushes either. Jayfeather raced through his territory his mind on one thing. Jayfeather was turned in the direction of the end of his territory away from the lake; there he knew that he had to rescue Lionblaze.

Jayfeather was jolted out of his thoughts when he just saw a black pelt crouched in the undergrowth, Jayfeather skidded on the leaves but too late, he crashed into an invisible barrier, instead of the black pelt. The barrier threw Jayfeather back and he went flopping and skidding onto the ground hissing in pain. "Fucking stupid barriers!" he hissed under his breath. The cat behind it had jumped up in surprise and was string at Jayfeather in surprise.

It was Nightpaw, Jayfeather's apprentice. Nightpaw was about to say something when suddenly goo from a Bio Rifle hit Nightpaw in the head and exploded over the cat's body, followed by a triumphant screech from Larchpaw, "I knew you were there, I've won!" Jayfeather shook his pelt of the blood that had burst all over, and called out, "before you go killing other clanmates make sure there is no cat around! No one wants to be covered in gore as soon as they go for a walk!"

Larchpaw came out excitement shining in her eyes and she stepped over the spot where the invisible barrier previously was. Jayfeather hissed annoyed that the two cats hadn't finished earlier, "sorry Jayfeather, Nightpaw and I were just getting some practice in, you know just in case Shadowclan shows up." Jayfeather looked closely and realized that there was a dreamy sort of look in Larchpaw's eyes. Nightpaw came bursting out of the undergrowth and slammed into Larchpaw sending the light-colored she cat off to the side. Nightpaw stared at Jayfeather

eyes shining.

Suddenly Jayfeather had a bad feeling that something between the two apprentices was going on. _But he's a medicine cat! This can't happen! _But Jayfeather knew that it was all too possible. Leafpool, Yellowfang, and another cat brought back many sad memories, _Halfmoon..._

Jayfeather shook himself, "you too shouldn't be out here," Jayfeather growled, "especially with the threat of the Dark Forest. The two apprentices hung their heads, "Now go home, I'm busy with an important errand." Jayfeather instantly regretted saying what he did.

Larchpaw perked her ears up, "Errand?" Jayfeather nodded reluctantly realizing that he would need help, "I have to rescue Lionblaze from the Dark Forest." Larchpaw stared at Jayfeather intently and Nightpaw looked determined. Jayfeather sighed, "You're going to come with me, aren't you?" The two apprentices nodded Jayfeather turned around, "Come on then, and bring your weapons too."

Behind Jayfeather the two apprentices followed silently intent upon their mission.


End file.
